LATE AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 459, 30 January 1869, Page 3

LATE AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

The following are some of the principal items of news received by the Tararua:— Melbourne, Jan. 16th. The drought is becoming serious, and cattle and sheep are being moved in all directions in search of food and water. Bush fires also' are general on the ranges in Gipps Land, and bridges have been destroyed. A man named Lloyd has been murdered at Belfast by his wife. She inflicted five frightful gashes with an axe on the back of his head. Mr Cheale, Manager of the St. Arnaud silver mine, has been waylaid and shot dead by a discharged miner, who has not yet been captured. A line of Eijian packets has been started. The Alfred, the first ship of the line, sails at the end of the current month. A whaling company is being formed at Geelong. A large consignment of trout fry have arrived safely from Tasmania, and have been liberated in the Yan Yean. A new journal is to be published in Melbourne under the name of the Daily TelegrapJi. The National Bank has followed the example of the Bank of Victoria, in empowering the directors to advance on mortgages. The Government steamer Yictoria has been paid off and laid up.

The Tornado's passengers are still in quarantine, fresh cases of typhus having occurred. On the other hand, no fresh cases of small-pox have occurred, and the only patient remaining is convalescent. The Aberdeen clipper ship Thermopylae lias arrived here after a passage of 62 days from London. Obituary: Mr Lavrett, Inspector General of Roads ; Mr Scott, of Scott's Hotel; Mr Collison, of the Hobson's Bay Railway. At Brightou a passenger train ran into a goods train near Princes Bridge. 50 people were injured, but none very severely. Sydney. Mr M'Cauley, the ex-magistrate at Wellington, who was charged with committing a rape, has been discharged. The estate of Mr George Tully, shipowner, Newcastle, has been sequestrated. The Rev. W. Turner, of Ryde, has died from the effects of a fall from his horse. Glencoe and the Barb are the favourites for the Sydnoy Cup. Tickler, who assisted in the forgery of a cheque for £ISOO on the National Bank, has'been remanded to Melbourne. General Chute has sailed for New Zealand to make an official inspection of the troops stationed there. White men have been seen among the natives of Carpentaria, but no commuuication has been had with them. Seasonable rains have fallen in Queensland and the settlers are bringing their flocks back to the stations.